I loved Samantha Greene Woodruff’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡’𝑠 𝑊𝑖𝑓𝑒, so I had high expectations going into this book - and it did not disappoint!

Bea Abramovitz is a fantastic character. She and her twin brother Jake are children of Jewish Russian immigrants, who both land jobs on Wall Street. But of course, being a woman in the 1920s, Bea is limited to the jobs she is offered. Plus, her brother sees preferential treatment both at home and in the workplace.

Bea is gifted at numbers and has an uncanny knack for reading the market, which is volatile and soaring but on the precipice of a historic crash. Although most do not take her advice seriously, Bea is determined and finds a way to help her family. She makes wise investments, even in the darkest days of the stock market.

Watching Bea do her magic in investments was frustrating and exhilarating. I loved that, even knowing what she knew, Bea was never rude, pretentious, or arrogant, even when others would not listen to her, especially her family. But as an intelligent, empowered woman, she didn't belittle others; she just trusted in herself.

This is a brilliant look at the investment world of the 1920s and a commentary on a woman working in a man’s world. You’ll also find great female friendships, emotional family dynamics, and romance; this book is a must-read!

🎧 One of my favorite narrators, Helen Laser, does a fabulous job with this audiobook - I highly recommend it.

Thank you @suzyapprovedbooktours and @samgwoodruffauthor for a spot on tour and a gifted book.

Thank you @brilliancepublishing for the gifted audiobook.

Bea is a poor Jewish girl with a head for numbers. Her father runs a vegetable cart and her mother bemoans the loss of her childhood wealth while lavishing praise on Jay, Bea's older twin brother. Both siblings get involved in the stock market in the roaring 20s.

This book was a gem. I loved the rise of everyone out of poverty, this feeling that everything was aces. Woodruff captured the atmosphere of the times and the anxiety of Bea as she anticipated the crash of the market coupled with the helplessness of being a powerless woman in man's world. This is a glorious triumph of the gentle hearted underdog.

Thank you to NetGalley, Brilliance audio, the author, and the lovely narrator for my advance copy of this audiobook.

I absolutely loved The Trade-Off. It is historical fiction about Bea, a young woman in New York in the late 1920s with a mathy brain who just wanted to be a stockbroker. But despite her intelligence and knack for reading the markets, she was a woman and Jewish and was not even able to get a job at JPMorgan for female brokers. Everything about this book was perfection. From Bea’s drive and determination to still find a way to work at JPMorgan and to still advise on trades, to her combatting sexism, misogyny and antisemitism at every turn, to her dedication to her family and friends, doing what she needed to do and take the risks that had to be taken to support them. I loved the historical component too and learning the details about the stock market leading up to and after the crash of 1929. I love the tense build up about Bea’s trades and the gambles she was taking. I loved the reading about life in NYC back then, particularly for women. The emotion oozed from the pages and this book was compelling and so riveting and I did not want it to end. All the stars for this one.

I love when books are based on true characters or true events, and when our main character is a powerful and fearless heroine that’s a complete win for me. This story kept me at the edge of my seat, it was exhilarating, inspiring and unputdownable.

Thank you Suzy Approved Book Tours for this tour invite.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗢𝗳𝗳 by Sam G Woodruff Author released October 8, 2024.

Bea Abramovitz is now one of my favorite female main characters in a novel. After reading this book, I feel she has become one of my friends. I aspire to have the tenacity and courage she had. Not only was she brave and ambitious, she was sweet and cared about others as people should, but often don’t.

Back in the 1920’s, women had no place on Wall Street. They could be secretaries but definitely not brokers. Bea’s twin brother, Jake, was allowed to study stocks and work in the field, although without Bea, he had a hard time even doing his college work. She was the brains of the family, but it wasn’t realized for a long time.

Her financial predictions went unrecognized and the harder she pushed for people to see her talent, the more they resisted her. Until one day, when everything began to crash in the late 1920’s, people began to listen. Bea believed in herself and never stopped trying to convince people to hear her. She cared so much about others; especially her family.

The characters were full of life and so colorful; I liked all of them. Jake was stubborn and somewhat arrogant, her mom idolized Jake, her dad believed in her, but didn’t always show it enough. She had a best friend and a boyfriend and so I don’t give any spoilers, I will stop right there.

This is Woodruff’s second novel, and at this rate, she will be one of the best known authors out there. Her talent to bring this kind of story to the pages of a book that was so well researched, with some of the best developed characters I have read in a long time, is a gift to us.

This book is for those who liked Lessons in Chemistry as well as ANY other strong female character ever written about.

I also listened to the audiobook of this and the narrator, Helen Laser, got the character’s voices spot on! I am so glad I listened to the book as well as read the physical book.

The Trade Off, by Samantha Greene Woodruff, is a fantastic book to read but even better when enjoyed as an audiobook. Helen Laser is one of my absolute favorite narrators. I can listen to her read absolutely anything. But listening to her embody a smart, tough, inspiring character like Bea Abramovitz is such a pleasure. In my past life, having grown up fascinated by the New York Stock Exchange and the absolute madness that took place on its floor every trading day, I worked on Wall Street. But you definitely don't need a banking background to enjoy The Trade Off. For me, it made connecting with Bea pretty seamless. But I think most of us will see a part of ourselves in her, and root for her success from the very first chapter. Highly recommend!!

I wish this historical fiction book would have been around when I was in economics and studying the history of the stock market crash of 1929 because after reading this book I understand what led up to that crash.

The book has the most interesting main character in Bea who has a sense for numbers and a passion to be a Wall Street broker. Unfortunately, because of her modest income and Jewish heritage she can’t even be a broker in the ladies division.

But Bea gets a job in the wire department and uses her knowledge and that information to better herself and help her family out.

The book goes back in time and then leads us up to the crash. We meet Bea’s friends and family which really made me connect with their characters.

Bea is a visionary and a hero to her family. She does it all quietly and modestly.

This is a great book that gives the reader a feel of the obstacles a smart, educated, driven woman faced during the late 1920s and what she sacrificed for family.

Wow! Another that I absolutely LOVED!

Is it because I was born and raised in Brooklyn? Maybe…

OR… Maybe it’s because my Mom grew up in Brooklyn and her best friend’s/ neighbors were Jewish? Maybe it’s because both of their Moms said ‘it doesn’t matter that you’re not the same religion, we all love our families and God more than anything else! We’re the same that way!’ (Italians and Jews…)
Maybe it’s because my Mom worked in a bank…many years ago…before she got married…
Not sure… but I totally felt like this was my Mom telling me a story!

Ok…on to the book!

🛑🛑 Going to give an outline below, so if you don’t want to know, stop here! 🛑🛑

Beatrice (Bea) is a young woman of Jewish descent. Her father taught her things from the time she was very young. (What she realized later on in life was that she was not like other girls her age. Numbers, equations, and the reasoning behind it came easily to her…and she seemed to have a photographic memory too!) She also realized that she loved the stock market! But, growing up in the 1920’s, there was NO PLACE for women on Wall St. Although she went to college, and did very well, it was a constant uphill battle to try to get work anywhere near the stock market….never mind IN IT. And, being Jewish didn’t help at all…
That didn’t stop her though. She was determined!

So when she finally got a job, (not exactly what she wanted), she was kind of happy…and she met people who became good friends!
Henrietta (Henny) and Millie and she were kind of the 3 musketeers…and the adventure began!
Oh…and let’s not forget Sophie. Her Italian neighbor and best friend, who made PHENOMENAL dresses…like she was making a cup of coffee!

Meanwhile, her twin brother Jack, who was never good in school, takes off and moves cross country for a job, and Bea is vey worried. But, he seems to be doing ok…

As time goes on, there are love interests for the girls, and work lunches, and nights on the town…

But when Bea’s life gets totally upended, and there’s a good chance she and her parents are going to lose everything…well, she needs to come up with a plan…and quick!!
Oh…and her father…well, what a sweetie! I just want to adopt him! ❤️

This was an exceptional book! I’ve read others that revolved around the time of the Great Depression, but wow! This one really nailed it!

My heart was racing. I was in tears more than once. And then, just as quickly, my heart was soaring with the love and compassion that you can FEEL radiating through the pages! If you are like me and enjoy a book that can give you ALL THE FEELS, look no further! You. Have. Found. It!!

All the stars and then some for me!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫💫💫✨✨✨

Thanks so much to #NetGalley, #BrilliancePublishing and #BrillianceAudio for an ARC of the audiobook which is due to be released tomorrow, 10/8/24!!

#TheTradeOff by #SamanthaGreeneWoodruff and narrated beautifully by #HelenLaser (another one of my faves!)

⭐️. Strong family vibes
⭐️. Women backing women
⭐️. Changing times in NY almost 100 years ago
⭐️. Finding love
⭐️. Trying to break through barriers
⭐️. Finally getting some recognition…

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Bea is a gifted mathematician, far more so than her brother Jake and her dream is to be a stockbroker on Wall Street. Unfortunately however, it’s the 1920s and the world is not yet ready for a brilliant female stockbroker, especially a Jewish one from the lower east side with no connections. Her charming brother however, gets offered her dream job even with no degree and no experience, so they devise a plan where she will be the brains behind the team and he will be the face and together they will take on Wall Street. But when Bea foresees a major crash no one will listen to her, not Jake, not her fiancée - and so she is on her own to try and save her family from ruin.

I have such a love for these women who don’t fit into their time stories. I thought this novel was great and I love a historical fiction novel that doesn’t include a war and Jewish history that doesn’t include the Holocaust. Reading about NYC in the 1920s was a joy for me as well since NYC historical novels are always a plus for me. I thought the way the novel was set up was really smart - the whole novel was a ticking time bomb to the 1929 crash and each chapter was a countdown to the day when you just knew everyone’s world was going to change. The characters that came into Bea’s life were wonderful and I just really loved this story about familial love, friendship and feminism. I listened to quite a bit of this while I was doing some chores around the house and I thought the narrator really captured the character and story so well, and fully engaged me in the story.

4.25 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Brilliance for the ARC

The Trade Off
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This was a great book. It was so interesting & complete. It wasn't the same story written a tons different ways. I really enjoyed it! I crash read it in one day. Soooo Great!! It kept me captivated from the very start.
Thank you NetGalley!!

Even though this was an audiobook for me, it was still “unputdownable.” It was a powerful book and I love that it was inspired by a true story. It was really interesting to learn more about the 1920’s in New York. The character development was fantastic and I really enjoyed getting to know Bea and her family and friends.  I’m fascinated by the stock market but rely on a financial advisor to make the majority of the investment decisions so I was blown away by Bea’s knack for understanding market trends and her overall market acumen. I cannot imagine how frustrated she must have been to be denied the opportunity to serve as a broker time and time again. Such a great story all the way around!

The Trade Off by Samantha Greene Woodruff is an absolute must. Set in the 1920s on Wall Street, this book follows Bea Abramovitz (an absolute Jewish Queen) as she navigates dating, friendship and … the stock market? I am definitely someone who is burnt out on WWII historical fiction (as the phrase goes, people love dead Jews), so I love an opportunity to foray into a completely different genre of Jewish HF and this book absolutely blew me away - 5 stars!